Ankara Refutes Reports On Nusra Leader Finding Shelter In Turkey - Source

Ankara rejects reports claiming that Abu Mohammad al-Julani, the leader of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (formerly Jabhat al-Nusra terrorist group, outlawed in Russia) was currently on Turkish soil, a diplomatic source told Sputnik on Thursday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 21st February, 2019) Ankara rejects reports claiming that Abu Mohammad al-Julani, the leader of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (formerly Jabhat al-Nusra terrorist group, outlawed in Russia) was currently on Turkish soil, a diplomatic source told Sputnik on Thursday.

On Tuesday, media reports emerged that the leader of the terrorist group had received a shrapnel wound to the head and was in coma at a Turkish hospital near the Syrian border.

"A report published on February 19 by a number of media outlets claimed that the leader of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham terrorist organization, Abu Mohammad al-Julani, was transported to Turkey after being injured in an explosion in Syria. This allegation is unfounded," the source said.

On December 11, al-Watan newspaper reported that the criminal court of Damascus had issued the death penalty in absentia to the leaders of several terrorist groups, including al-Julani.